Gaming History You Should Know – Milo April 23, 2023

It’s Sunday. Welcome back to an all-new Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the best independently produced content on the history of gaming from across the web. Today, we’re going to be talking about a subject from our recent past.

One of the first major gaming news event this website reported on was the announcement of Project Natal, which eventually became known as the Xbox Kinect, at E3 2010. A decade later, we understand the Kinect as being a motion control camera capable of offering simple gesture based controls in conjunction with offering an extra way to have Skype conversations. However, when it was first announced, Microsoft was invested in pushing Project Natal as this magical device that could do so many things (including things it absolutely could not do).

To push that narrative, Game God Peter Molyneux took the stage of the Microsoft E3 2010 and demoed Milo. Milo, as we later discovered, was a technical demo video which featured an actress interacting with a virtual boy. They were able to hold a conversation, he was able to read out drawings she presented him, and she was even able to manipulate the game environment with her body. The public went crazy for it and it made major news, even by mainstream organizations.

With the eyes of the world on the game after that E3 reveal, people were excited to see more. However, we really didn’t hear too much about Milo in the gaming space. It didn’t preview at E3 2011, and by the time a final Kinect peripheral was ready for previews, it was clear it was not as capable a device as Microsoft originally promised. The last time I remember anyone talking about it was hearing a reference to it at E3 2011 from the team who worked on the Kinect Fable title had also worked on Milo. Sadly, I couldn’t get them to tell me how he was doing when I asked.

So what happened to Milo? YouTube channel slow start produced this television quality document detailing the known history of the project, and looks into the question of WAS THIS REALLY MEANT TO BE A GAME? Watch and find out!

Gaming History You Should Know – Do Amiibo Work at Super Nintendo World January 29, 2023

Super Nintendo World is about to open at Universal Studios Hollywood and people are already coming back with videos about their experiences. It looks absolutely incredible.

As we saw with Universal Studios Japan, the new Hollywood Super Nintendo World will feature interactive components for guests to manipulate based upon an exclusive piece of merchandise called a Power Up Band. This Band, when linked with the Universal Studios Hollywood App, will allow you to keep track of your in-park activities. The Band even includes Amiibo functionality that can even work with the Nintendo Switch (depending on what character band you purchase).

So if the Power Up Band is an Amiibo, does that mean that Amiibos could work in Super Nintendo World? A freaking genius, who I’ve known better by his internet title of Spazz Master of the YouTube Channel Theme Snark, decided to conduct an experiment while visiting Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Gaming History You Should Know – History of Mortal Kombat Commercials November 6, 2022

Happy Sunday, welcome back to Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the best documentaries across the web that discusses game history. In 1991, Mortal Kombat released onto arcades across the country and completely swept gamers away with its combination of photo-realistic sprites and violent fatalities. Many sequels and spin offs would follow and thirty years later the franchise is still going strong.

Starting in the mid-90s, Midway produced home console ports of the original arcade games. These ports would honestly sell themselves based on the goodwill of the original arcade experiences, but Midway would still put an incredible amount of money into producing some unique television commercials for them. How wild were they? YouTube Channel ScorePN produced this great video looking back on them. Check it out!

Mortal Kombat games are out now on multiple platforms.

Gaming History You Should Know – The Year of Luigi October 23, 2022

Welcome back to a new Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the best independently produced game history content from across the web. 2013 was a turning point year for Nintendo. It marked the beginning of the first full year the 3DS and Wii U were on the market together. Pokemania was about to begin its second renaissance with the announcement of the Generation VI games, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, and a certain character that was always in his brother’s shadow was about to step out in a big way.

2013 was officially Nintendo’s Year of Luigi. It started with the launch of the incredible Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon for the 3DS, and continued with more games like Dr. Luigi U and New Super Luigi U. I would be there for all of it, and I remember it playing a huge role in cementing my love for Nintendo games. However, the YouTube Channel Jonii did a fantastic chronicle of the whole year and brought up some things that even I missed out on. If you’re a fan of Nintendo history you should give this a watch.

Gaming History You Should Know – Video Game Animatronics September 18, 2022

Hope you all are enjoying your Sunday. Welcome back to Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the best independently created history videos across the web on a variety of gaming sources. As a lover of theme parks, I know there can be nothing more immersive to see in a theme park ride than a great animatronic. If you’re unaware of the concept, an anamorphic is essentially a preprogrammed robot designed to resemble a real-life character. Due to the cost and difficulty required to create them, animatronics typically appear in theme park rides and attractions. The first known example was Walt Disney’s recreation of President Lincoln for the 1964 World’s Fair. Currently, the best animatronic I can think of in operation is the one of Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout at Disney’s California Adventure. That said, the to-scale King Kong Universal Studios Florida made for the defunct Kongfrontation ride holds a special place in my heart.

The guys over at Fastpass Facts, which is a great reference for theme park animatronic history, did a great video on the known history of animatronics of characters made famous in video games. Let’s take a look!

Gaming History You Should Know – The History of Rogers: The Musical April 1, 2022

Happy April Fool’s Day! No one could ever forget where they were during the events of the Battle of New York, where the Earth survived its first-ever alien invasion due to the heroic intervention of a Billionaire, a Norse God, The World’s Greatest Archer, The World’s Greatest Assassin, a gamma-irradiated supergenius, and a WWII-era super soldier. We’ve come to know them as The Avengers and for the past decade they’ve been Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, capable of fighting the battles we never could. Personally, I’ve lost track of the amount of times they’ve saved the world, either individually or as a group, so you’ll forgive me for glossing over their reputation. I for one am just grateful for their service.

Following the events of The Blip and The Battle of Earth, which saw the tragic deaths of Iron Man, Black Widow and Captain America, The Avengers have all but dissolved. In the time since the Battle of Earth, video game adaptations of The Avengers’ exploits continue to live on with the phenomenal Ultimate Alliance series, and the upcoming Spider-Man and Wolverine games by Insomniac. But recently, there has been a different kind of adaptation over the past year, the Tony-Award Winning Megablockbuster, Rogers: The Musical. Based on the life of the late Steve Rogers, who we know as Captain America, the musical has been a tremendous success setting ticket records Broadway hadn’t seen in years.

YouTube Channel Wait in the Wings, which we’ve featured before on this website, did a phenomenal history video on one of the greatest musicals ever made. How do you create such a masterpiece when half your production staff disappear for five years? To say it was an Avengers-Level challenge would be an understatement.

Gaming History You Should Know – History of Computer Smartwatches March 27, 2022

It’s Sunday and what better day to kick off the restart of GameXcess.net than to celebrate with another look back at the history of gaming! This is Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight and share some of the best independently produced content on the history of gaming.

Nowadays, everyone is rocking some type of computer watch, be it an Apple Watch or Gear device. Most of these have full color displays, are capable of wireless data transmission, and keep track of time, alarms, appointments, and even health biometrics. Some of them are even able to play games! (Apple Watch gamers, I recommend Lifeline, Lifeline: Silent Night, and Cosmos Rings as must-play games!)

However, before the Apple Watch found its way on nearly everyone’s wrist, there were many other attempts, some by major companies, to sell computer watches to consumers’. So where did all of this begin, at least as far as consumers are concerned? Fear not, YouTube Legend Techmoan has us covered with a look at what I’m pretty sure is the first consumer level computer watch. It was not cheap, and it was likely meant to be used by wealthy pilots, lawyers and other businessmen, but it had incredible features and the ability to do time-based calculations that I haven’t even seen modern smartphones capable of doing! I present…the HP-01!

Unfortunately the HP-01 was way before my time. When I was growing up, I fondly remembered the classic CASIO wrist calculator watches my father would never go anywhere without. In the days before I got my first Game Boy, the fact my dad could do calculations on his wrist was something incredible. While I did eventually get a CASIO of my own, I had no idea CASIO and other companies like them released several revisions of LCD watches with a bit more of a gaming focus. Seriously.

YouTube channel Nostalgia Nerd, who I remember fondly for his knowledge of British Microcomputers, produced this great look at some of the more obscure calculator watches. Some of these just blew my mind with how they were able to innovate with the tech of the time. Heck, some of these used infrared transmitters to not just swap information, but to play multiplayer games against each other. Check it out!

Finally, I wanted to talk about one of the most obscure designs for a watch that harkened back to the days of Palm. Now that Palm figured out the most basic functions a tech enthusiast needed on the go (calendar, address book, clock, alarms), the watch maker TIMEX made the evolutionary step to put a PDA in a high-end watch. To sync, you merely needed some software that could transmit your settings and features through your CRT’s blanking signal (or a separate transmitter if you used a laptop). Sound insane? YouTube channel LGR has that part covered.

Gaming History You Should Know – Video Game Lost Media January 9, 2022

It’s Sunday, and that means it’s time for us to once again discuss Gaming History You Should Know. Recently, I’ve been impressed by the deep documentaries produced by YouTube Channels like BlameitonJorge and All Things Lost, where they have gone into deep searches for obscure media. In fact, we even did our own lost media search last week. However, I’m sure you’ve seen that there have been much more of video game related content that is considered lost. This title can be bestowed on content that has either been finished and withheld from release or released before the opportunity for archiving

First off, we’re going to highlight one of the biggest franchises in the world, Pokémon. Due to the fact it has been releasing games, movies, toys, television shows and spin-off games for twenty-five years. YouTube Channel PaPaSec has created what is probably one of the tightest videos I’ve seen about the most well-known Pokémon lost media. Check it out!

Next up, we’re going to highlight the work of the adorable YouTube Channel Sakura Stardust. In this video, she talks about some of the most obscure lost Pokémon media. How obscure is some of this? I’ve been following Pokémon for years and I hadn’t even HEARD of some of this stuff. Enjoy.

Moving on from Pokémon, let’s talk about another classic game franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog. YouTube Channel All Things Lost, one of the best Lost Media channels on the web, has us covered. He highlights some of the lost media and incomplete Sonic games that have not been archived. Sonic X-Treme is not featured, as it has been found.

So that was just the tip of the iceberg for some video game content that is currently considered lost. I’m sure in the future we will have another article like this, so until next time, Happy New Year!